Blood Ties
by BelovedEnemy83
Summary: Due to old wizarding ways, Hermione was hidden with a muggle family for 17 years. When she discovers who she really is, nothing will ever be the same again. DM/HG, BZ/GW
1. Revelations

Hermione was finishing up the last of her packing when her mom called her down for lunch. Hermione quickly put the last of her things on her bed to pack later and headed downstairs. She had just finished setting the table when she heard a quiet tapping sound at the kitchen window. She looked over and saw a beautiful brown owl sitting on the ledge. Hermione didn't recognize the owl as belonging to Harry, one of the Weasleys or Hogwarts, so she was quite curious as to who it belonged to. She opened the kitchen window and the owl flew in and purched itself on the kitchen counter, waiting patiently for Hermione to take the letter that it had. Hermione took the letter and then scratched the lovely creature on its head. The owl hooted at her and then took off out the window. Hermione was even more surprised when she saw that the letter was addressed to her parents; she couldn't remember either of her parents ever receiving a letter by an owl.

"Mom, this letter is for you."

Her mom smiled and took the letter, assuming it had something to do with her daughter's last year of school. She opened the letter and scanned the first few lines, before her smile disappeared. Hermione had been watching her mom and frowned when she saw her expression change.

"What is it, mom?"

"Lewis, you need to read this." Hermione's mom called her dad into the kitchen.

"What's wrong, mom?" Hermione repeated.

Lewis took the letter and after scanning it, he had the same expression as his wife, "We knew that this day would come, Liz."

Hermione rolled her eyes, "Oh, for goodness sake; what is it!?"

Her parents looked at each other and then at her before finally speaking, "Hermione dear, have a seat." Her mom patted a stool and Hermione slowly walked over and took a seat.

"Is everything ok?"

"Yes, everything is fine. However, we need to have a talk."

Hermione furrowed her brows, "Ok..."

Her parents sat down on stools on either side of her and her mom took her hand, "You know that we love you more than anything on this planet, right?"

"Of course I do. You're scaring me, mom. What is this about?"

"Did you know that several hundred years ago, the magical world took part in rather barbaric traditions such as trading children for other...goods and services?"

Hermione furrowed her brow, "No, I've never heard that. How did you know?"

"Well, even though those traditions haven't been practiced since the 1800s, arrangements that had been made back then still have to be followed now, to a certain extent."

"I don't follow."

"Say for instance, a wizard had made a deal with another wizard to obtain full legal custody of the first born female child in a family line. This agreement was made in 1875, but a female heir for that particular family wasn't born until 100 years later. Since the agreement was made when it was legal, the family is obligated to follow through with it. Does that make sense?"

"Yes, I understand now. Although, I don't understand what this has to do with us and how it is that you know so much about it."

Hermione's mom looked at her dad, "I don't know how to tell her this, Lewis."

"Oh, for hell's sake, just give me the letter then." Hermione snapped.

Her mom pushed it out of her reach, "Hermione, you aren't our biological daughter."

Hermione stopped reaching for the paper and gaped at her mother, "I'm sorry, what did you say?"

"You aren't our biological daughter."

Hermione was silent for a full minute before she came to terms with everything that her parents telling her. Unfortunately, she misunderstood what they had told her, "You-you took me from my real parents as some part of a 100 years old agreement!?"

Lewis immediately understood what she had said and he took her hand, "No, honey, that's not what happened. Your biological parents gave you to us to protect you from the wizard who had legal claim to you. You see, this wizard wasn't a good man. There's no telling what would have happened to you if he had gotten his slimy hands on you."

"I'm not-I'm not a-Who am I?" Hermione couldn't fully wrap her head around what they were telling her.

"You are the biological daughter of a very wealthy pureblood family." Her mom explained.

Hermione was reeling at the revelation; she had spent her entire life defending herself against the pureblooded elite who constantly looked down on her because she was a muggle born and now she was just like they were and very rich, apparently.

"I have your features; hair, eyes, nose. Was it a concealment charm?"

"Yes; you were actually quite a surprise to your parents. Your mother had no idea that she was pregnant with twins. When you came out a few minutes after your brother, your mom was both overjoyed and terrified. The younger generations of your family had made other arrangements to keep the next female heir safe. The plan was to lie about your sex and then say that you had died at childbirth and then they would send you away to a new family. When your mom found out she was pregnant, they were only able to detect your brother and when you were born, they had to put their plan into motion immediately. Your father put a concealment charm on you to look like us."

Hermione let all of this information sink in and tears starting running down her cheeks, "I have a twin brother?"

"Yes, you do."

"Why were you chosen to be my parents? I thought you knew nothing of the magical world."

"Well, we wanted you to believe that. It was of the utmost importance that you believed that you had come from a completely non magical family to keep you safe. If anyone had ever suspected that you weren't who you said, this wizard that had claim on you could have found you."

"Who was this wizard and why are you telling me all this now?"

Hermione's mom held up the letter, "This letter is from your birth parents. It says that the wizard was killed by some Aurors last month when they caught him torturing a muggle family."

Hermione gasped, "Oh, what a horrible man!"

"Yes, he was. Now you see why your real parents went to such trouble to protect you. The wizard's name was Aldo Acey."

Hermione had never heard that name before and she was very glad, "So, this means that I don't have to be hidden anymore?"

"That's right; you can go be with your real family if you so choose."

Hermione hugged her mom and dad, "You two are my real family. But, I would like to meet them. Have I heard of them before?"

"It's possible; they are Felix, Rachel and Blaise Zabini."

Hermione gasped, "The Zabinis...I am a Zabini?"

"You've heard of them, then."

"Yes, they are quite known in the wizarding world and more that a little wealthy In fact, they are the wealthiest family in Europe next to the Malfoys." The mention of Malfoys made her think of Draco and then Blaise, as he was Draco's best friend and then she gasped again, "Oh my, I'm Blaise Zabini's twin sister?"

"Yes, you are."

Hermione tried to think of all she knew about Blaise Zabini. He was a Slytherin, Draco Malfoy's best friend, very smart, popular, attractive, and he had never gone out of his way to be a jerk to her the way Malfoy always had. In fact, he had always been relatively nice to her. Did he know that she was his sister?

Hermione asked her mom that question, "No, The only people who know your true identity are Mr. and Mrs. Zabini, and us."

"What-What's my real name?"

"Hermione Olivia Zabini."

"So, I look like Blaise." She thought of Blaise's features; he had flawless, tanned skin, midnight black hair, and cobalt blue eyes. Hermione wondered how many features they had in common. Would she look like a completely different person after the concealment charm was taken off? She had her mom's hair, nose and eyes, so she knew that those things would change at the very least.

Her mom broke her out of her thoughts, "I know that this is a lot to take in, sweetheart, but we promised Rachel and Felix that if you were ever safe from the clutches of Mr. Acey, then we would tell you the truth and let you decide how you wanted to move forward."

"Can I read the letter?"

Liz handed the letter to Hermione and she began reading.

_Mr. and Mrs. Granger, _

_I am writing to inform you that Aldo Acey is dead; he was killed by some Aurors when they caught him torturing a muggle family. It is time to tell Hermione who she really is and let her decide what she wants to do. My husband and I always agreed that when the time came, it would be her choice to choose her family. If we are all lucky, then she will want to have us all in her life. I pray for the sake of my son that she chooses to get to know her other family and perhaps have a real relationship with her brother. My son is very loyal when it comes to family and I am certain that he will be less than pleased to learn that he has a twin sister that he has know all these years, but never really knew. My husband and I have kept tabs on Hermione as much as we could and we are very pleased with the way you've raised her. I hear that she is extremely intelligent, much like Blaise, as well as kind, generous, and fiercely loyal to her friends and family as well. _

_Obviously, we all need to come together and speak in person. We are very eager to meet the wonderful young woman that you raised, as well as reunite Blaise and his sister. We will be talking to Blaise this afternoon and then we will all come to your house on Thursday afternoon to meet with you. _

_My husband and I want to thank you from the bottom of ours hearts for taking such wonderful care of our daughter and we look forward to meeting with you once again._

_See you on Thursday._

_Sincerely, _

_Felix and Rachel Zabini_

Hermione set the letter back on the counter, "They are coming here today?!"

Liz nodded and Hermione blew out a sigh, "I'm going up to my room; I need to think."

She kissed her parents and went up to her room. Hermione threw herself onto her bed and tried to sort through everything that was flying around in her head. She was a Zabini; the second wealthiest pureblooded magical family in Europe. She was Blaise Zabini's twin sister; if she had been a Zabini her whole life, would she have been sorted into Slytherin as well? Would she still have become friends with Harry and Ron? Harry and Ron; what would they say when they found out who she really was? Would they still be her friend? Of course they would. It's not like she had been keeping it a secret from them, she had no idea either! They would understand; she knew they would. She was a pureblood witch, a wealthy, pureblood witch; this was all just so surreal. She had absolutely no complaints about her life, but she couldn't help but think how things would be so vastly different if she had been raised a Zabini. She knew that Harry, Ron and Ginny would always stay by her side, but how would everyone else react when they found out about her? She had to admit that she wasn't too keen to find out. The thought of Everyone at Hogwarts made her think of Blaise's best friend; Draco Malfoy. She almost laughed at the thought of how he would react when he found out that Hermione Mudblood Granger was actually his best friend's sister. She found that she was actually looking forward to that part. Hermione looked at her bedside clock and jumped off the bed when she realized that she had been deep in thought for almost two hours. They would be there in less than thirty minutes! Hermione tore though her closet in search of something to wear. She had just put the finishing touches on her outfit when she heard the doorbell ring. Hermione's stomach dropped to her toes and she had to remind herself to breathe. She took one last look at her reflection before she went down to meet her real family.

* * *

_So, I've always been interested in this storyline, but all the stories I've found were just to unrealistic in my opinion. They had everyone immediately accepting the situation and blah, blah, blah. Hopefully this story will be a little more realistic. I'm not even sure if I'm going to write anymore on this particular story. I guess it all just depends on if I get enough good feedback._

_Anyway, let me know what you all think!_

_Thanks for reading!_


	2. Reunited

**I was pretty surprised when I got such a good response from this story, so I think I'll stick with it! Thanks guys!**

**On with the show...**

* * *

Hermione descended the stairs and saw her mom about to answer the door. Liz looked at Hermione and smiled, "Do you want to answer it?"

Hermione nodded and Liz stepped away and put a reassuring hand on her daughter's shoulder as Hermione hesitantly opened the door. She saw her real family standing there and so many emotions came rushing forward; excitement, awe, confusion, sadness, wonder and even a little anger. A part of her was extremely pissed that her parents could turn her over to complete strangers with no qualms. She knew that was not the case, but she still couldn't help the feeling. The Zabinis, her real family, were standing in front of her. Rachel was the epitome of regal perfection; She had long raven black hair, hypnotic dark blue eyes, and perfectly tan skin that would have taken Hermione two straight weeks in a tanning bed to achieve; now Hermione saw where Blaise got his features. Felix had the same tan skin, but his hair was a bit lighter, more of a mahogany brown, and he had piercing crystal blue eyes. Hermione's eyes went from one Zabini to the next for what seemed like ages, before she realized that she was staring. She blinked several times to regain focus. Rachel and Felix were both smiling and crying and Blaise was looking at Hermione like he was just as gobsmacked with all this as she was.

"Please-" Hermione's voice cracked and she cleared her throat, "Please come in." They all came in and Liz greeted Rachel with tears and a hug and a hug for Felix as well. Lewis hugged Rachel and shook Felix's hand. Rachel put her hand on Blaise's back and introduced him to Liz and Lewis. Liz pulled him into a hug and Blaise awkwardly accepted it, while Lewis shook his hand. Liz led everyone into the family room where she had tea waiting. They all took their seats, the tea was served and then they all just sat in an awkward silence for a few minutes.

Rachel couldn't stand it anymore, so she set down her tea and looked at Hermione, "You must have a million questions for us."

Hermione set down her tea also, "My parents explained it pretty well I think. This Acey character, do you know what he had planned to do with me?"

"No, he never told us. It may have been easier to accept your fate if we had known that you had been promised to a good family, like the Grangers, but we knew that Acey was _not _a good man; he was a murdering psychopath and I would have died before handing you over to that monster. When I found out that I was pregnant, we thought that it was just Blaise. We were both so happy and so scared when you came along three minutes later. We were completely unprepared for you, but luckily we had made plans for any and every possible situation. Minutes after you were born, Felix put a charm on you to replace all of my psychical features with Mrs. Granger's and then he obliviated the medi-witch that had delivered you. I kissed you goodbye and Felix left to take you to your new home."

When Rachel had finished, she was crying again, as was Hermione. She could see that Rachel cared for her very much and that it had torn her up to have to let Hermione go.

"Acey is really dead, then?" She asked.

"Oh, yes; I personally saw his body so that there would be no doubt." Felix said.

"We understand that this must be hard for you to take all in one day."

Hermione stood up, "I just need a moment; I'll be right back."

She quickly excused herself and went to sit outside on her porch swing. She was trying to get herself together when she heard the screen door slam shut. She saw Blaise standing there and he smiled slightly, "Can I join you?"

Hermione nodded and scooted over so he could sit. They just sat and looked at the trees blowing in the breeze.

"I can't imagine that this is easy for you either; finding out after all these years that you have a sister."

"A twin sister, no less." Blaise agreed.

"In a million years, would you ever suspect that the Mudblood Hermione Granger was your twin?"

"Don't call yourself that." Blaise scolded.

Hermione smiled, "What; Mudblood or Granger?"

"I was referring to Mudblood; I've never liked that name."

"Are you sure you belong in Slytherin?"

"Not all of us are like Draco."

"I know, which is why I find it so hard to believe that he's your best friend. You were always decent to me."

"Draco is a good person; he just grew up with a shitty father. He's changed since Lucius was sent to Azkaban."

"Well, that's good. I can't imagine how he will react when he finds out who I really am. People will find out eventually, you know. I'm afraid of how they will react."

"Well, not to be a snob or anything, but I think that people will react positively when they find out that you are a Zabini."

"Most will I'm sure, but jealousy is bound to rear it's ugly head eventually."

"Oh, I'm sure."

"Well, it's not fair. I didn't ask for any of this; none of us did!"

"Life isn't fair, it would seem. You know, I always knew that there was something that was being kept from me. Mom and dad always seemed depressed on the holidays and more so on my birthday."

"When is your birthday, or rather, our birthday?"

"October fourteenth."

"My parents told me mine was September nineteenth; it would make sense that they didn't want you linked to me."

"They just wanted to protect you."

"I know. I do want to be a part of your family, but I don't want to have to give up the family that I've know my whole life."

"Mom and dad would never ask you to do that, Hermione. They told me that if you chose not to accept us, they would understand. They realize that this must be very hard for you."

"And you; would you understand if I didn't want to be a part of your family?"

"I would understand; I can't say that I would like it, but I would get it."

"Do you want me to be a part of your life?"

"I was pissed at my parents when I found all this out. I was mad because I was so sure that there was something else they could have done other than take you away from us. I was also very mad at you for abandoning me; there have been so many times in my life where I could have used a sibling. Of course, I soon realized that I was being ridiculous; you were just as innocent in all this as I was and my parents did the only thing that they could to guarantee that you would be safe. I do want you to be a part of my life; a part of our lives."

"That's what I want too."

Blaise smiled, "Good."

"I wonder how much we look alike. Your mom, our mom, God, that's just so weird to say. Our mom said her features were replaced with my mom's features. I have her hair, eyes, and nose. I'm not going to look anything like myself anymore."

"You have dad's cheekbones and his eye shape."

"I do?"

"Yes; you won't lose yourself."

Blaise stood up and held out his hand. Hermione took it and he helped her up and continued holding her hand as they went back inside. They had no idea how much they had helped each other to accept the situation, but in that moment, they had bonded in a way. Of course, it would take time for them to get to the real sibling relationship that they both wanted, but they had made a good start. They went back to the family room and Hermione walked over to Rachel and held out her hand. Rachel stood up and Hermione immediately hugged her. Rachel made a happy sort of crying noise and wrapped her arms around her daughter and then Hermione was crying as well. Felix stood up and hugged Hermione as well and Blaise just stood to the side and watched with a smile on his face. After buckets of tears had been shed by parents and daughter, they broke apart and Hermione went over and hugged her adoptive parents. More tears were shed and when they were all thoroughly cried out, Hemione collected herself and looked at everyone.

"I want all of you to be a part of my life. I need to be true to myself and since I am truly a Zabini, then I should live my life as one; but, I also have spent my entire life as a Granger and I could never give that up either. Does that make sense?"

"Of course, honey." Liz said.

Everyone else nodded, so she continued, "I think I should live by my true identity and appearance and what have you, but I still want you guys to be a part of my life." She turned to the Grangers as she said this.

Rachel smiled, "I'm so happy to hear you say that darling. We would never ask you to give up the life that you've always known and you can spend your time as you choose."

Hermione turned to Rachel, "I could spend part of the holidays with you since we'll be going back to school in a few days and we won't really hae a chance before then."

Liz looked at her husband and he smiled in agreement, "Honey, if you'd like, you can spend the next few days with the Zabinis before you go back to school."

Hermione looked at Rachel and she smiled, "We would love that."

She looked at Blaise and he nodded.

"I'd like that." Rachel grinned and hugged Hermione again.

Blaise had been watching Hermione and he could tell that there was something she wanted to say, but was afraid. She'd open her mouth to speak, but then closed it. She did this several times. "What is is, Hermione?"

Hermione gave him a questioning look, "There's something you want to say, but you're afraid."

Hermione blushed, "Not afraid, just...embarrassed."

"You can say anything that's on your mind, sweetheart." Felix said.

"Well, I'm sort of dying to know what I really look like."

Felix smiled and stepped forward, "I can help you with that." He pulled his wand out and pointed it at Hermione, "I put the charm on you, and I'm the only one that can take it off." He muttered a few words and Hermione could immediately feel things changing. She watched the looks on everyone's faces as they watch her transformation. When it was complete, they were all speechless.

"Do I look alright?" Hermione asked.

Blaise smiled, "You are definitely a Zabini."

Rachel was crying again, "You are so beautiful."

Liz was also crying, "You really are, Hermione."

"I'll be right back." Hermione darted upstairs to her room to check herself out in her floor length mirror.

She saw her reflection and gasped; her once untameable muddy brown hair was now the same beautiful black as Blaise and Rachel and it flowed a bit passed her shoulders in smooth, beautiful waves. Her eyes had been changed from a honey brown to the gorgeous indigo that she had always admired on Blaise. Her nose was now a bit smaller and more petite, if that even made any sense. Her skin was now a flawless tan and she had more of an hourglass shape to her figure and her breasts had enlarged by at least one cup. They weren't kidding when they said that Rachel's psychical features had been replaced with Liz's. Hermione had always thought that Liz was attractive, but Rachel was downright gorgeous and now Hermione was too. For the first time in her life, Hermione felt beautiful. Blaise was right, she still had the same eye shape and cheekbones, so she still resembled the old Hermione; she really hadn't lost herself. More than pleased with her new look, Hermione smiled and practically skipped down the stairs to rejoin the group.

Everyone was looking at her expectantly and she blushed again, "It's going to take some time to get used to, but I love it. Who knew that I could look so pretty?"

"You've always been beautiful." Liz and Rachel said together.

"Well, this is quite different from what I'm used to. How am I going to explain all of this to my friends?"

"Well, I think all the guys at school will be rather accepting." Blaise said with a smirk.

Hermione blushed again and Rachel smiled and hugged her, "Well, we are going to let you have some time with your parents before you come to our house." She took a piece of paper out of her purse and handed it to Hermione, "This is the address. Do you have your apparating license?"

Hermione nodded and Rachel grinned, "Of course you do. Well, you just come on over when you're ready."

Hermione smiled, "Ok, I will."

The adults exchanged hugs and handshakes again, Hermione hugged her newfound parents, and Blaise gave her hand a squeeze and winked at her. Hermione said goodbye to them and they disappeared out the front door.


	3. Transitions

**So, I was planning on introducing Draco to the story in this chapter, but I had a few things that I needed to go through first and then the chapter was just way too long, so I had to save Draco for the next chapter. **

**Also, I know absolutely nothing about British anything. If the characters' actions or words seem too American, I apologize. I'm workin' with what I know! :)**

**On with the show...**

* * *

After the Zabinis left, Lewis took his girls out to dinner. Hermione was very quiet during the first half of the meal and her mom couldn't take the silence anymore.

She set her fork down, "Hermione, what's wrong darling? Do you not want to spend time with the Zabinis?"

"No, I do; I do very badly actually. I'm so excited to get to know their world...my world. It's just-"

"What, darling?" her mom pushed.

"I feel like I'm betraying and abandoning you." Hermione whispered as a single tear slid down her cheek.

Her parents laughed softly, "Hermione, you are most certainly _not _betraying us. This is who you truly are, my love." her dad said.

Her mom put her hand on Hermione's arm, "Do you plan on writing to us while you are at school?"

"Yes, of course."

"Do you plan on spending at least some of your winter break with us?"

"Yes, I couldn't get through the holidays without you."

"Ok, and after graduation, do you still plan on coming around and seeing us once in a while?"

Hermione gave her mom an exasperated sigh, "What kind of a question is that? Of course I do!"

"Well, then you aren't abandoning us either. Abandonment would imply that you had no intention of acknowledging us ever again and that's clearly not the case." Her mom smiled.

Her dad called the waiter over and ordered Hermione's favorite dessert, "Now, enough of this sadness. You have so much to be excited about, sweetheart."

"Yes, we insist that you go have a great time with the Zabinis. They are genuinely good people and you have a twin brother!" Her mom squealed.

Hermione immediately perked up and grinned, "I know; I can't believe it! At school I always associated him as 'the enemy' because he is in Slytherin House and they've always been horrible to Gryffindor House. Well, I don't recall Blaise ever being one of the horrible ones, which is a good thing. I wonder if I would have been sorted into Slytherin if I had been a Zabini my first year. Well, if I had been, I wouldn't have all the amazing friends that I have. So, I guess it all worked out for the best. I mean, I wouldn't have you guys."

"You will always have us, Hermione; No matter what." Her father said.

Hermione smiled and they all dug into dessert.

* * *

Hermione had finally finished packing everything and she put it all on her bed and then shrunk it all down so that it would fit into her bag. Crookshanks was sitting on her pillow and she walked over and scratched his head and told him that she'd see him on Sunday, then she grabbed her bag and headed downstairs. Her parents were in the living room and they came over and hugged her fiercely.

"We will see you at the station on Sunday when we drop off Crook and to see you off of course!" Liz said.

"Remember Hermione, this is your life now; don't be afraid to live it." Lewis said as he gave her one more hug.

"I won't." Hermione sniffled. "See you on Sunday!"

She gave them one last wave, concentrated on her destination and then vanished with a 'POP!' When she landed at her destination, Hermione turned around and gasped at the gorgeous house before her. It was a two story mansion with white bricks, pillars, a large white fountain that sat in the middle of a circular drive way, and beautiful, lush landscaping. She walked up to the door and saw that it had be at least two stories high. When she rang the doorbell, even the chime sounded elegant.

After a few moments, the door opened and Rachel greeted her with a big smile, "Hi; come in, come in!"

Hermione stepped inside and was in awe of her surroundings; the interior was Victorian Gothic with beautiful dark woods and furnishings. From what she could see, there was a large dining room to the left, a family room to the right and a dual staircase that was the centerpiece of the incredible foyer.

"You're home is so beautiful!" Hermione breathed.

"Thank you, darling. I absolutely loved decorating it!"

"You have amazing taste."

Rachel beamed and Hermione saw Blaise sauntering down the stairs, "She redecorates every few years. Every time, it feels like we are in a new house."

"It's good to change things up a bit, my dear. Things get so monotonous after awhile." Rachel explained.

"Well, I absolutely love it." Hermione smiled.

Hermione couldn't help but sniff the air and Rachel smiled, "Double fudge chocolate chip cookies. I'm not much of a cook-"

Blaise snorted, "That's an understatement, mother."

Rachel glared at her son, "But, I love to bake."

"She's great at that. People are always begging her for the recipe for these cookie."

"An insult mixed with a compliment; that's my son." Rachel sighed.

Hermione laughed, "Well, they smell amazing."

"How are you, Hermione? Did you have a good talk with your parents?"

"Oh yes, they helped put my mind at ease with some things."

"That's great to hear! Well, let me show you around"

The kitchen timer went off, "Blaise, honey, will you go take the cookies out of the oven for me please?"

Blaise nodded and headed off towards the kitchen.

Rachel saw the quizzical look on Hermione's face, "What is it, sweetie?"

"You don't have house elves?"

"Oh, yes, we have two. I always let them leave at five; I hate working the poor dears too hard."

"Wow, you really are my mom, aren't you." Hermione couldn't help but start crying. Of course, this made Rachel start crying as well. They cried and hugged for what seemed like ages before Blaise came back.

"Everything alright?" He asked.

The girls broke apart and wiped their tears away.

"Yes, everything's great." Hermione smiled.

Rachel took Hermione's hand, "Let's have a tour, shall we? I'll show you your room, also!"

Rachel dragged Hermione off and Blaise smiled as they disappeared out of sight.

* * *

After the full tour, Hermione, Blaise and Rachel were sitting in the kitchen and munching on the cookies.

Hermione was on her third one, "These are the best cookies I've ever had."

"Told you." Blaise said as he finished up his fourth.

"I don't know you all stay so fit having these in your house."

"Good genes; you have them too." Blaise reached over and grabbed another cookie. He looked at his mom and saw her staring at him and Hermione with a strange look on her face, "What is it, mom?"

"You two are so beautiful" She smiled.

Hermione blushed and Blaise just grinned at her as if to say 'I know."

"I'm so sorry that you two had to live so much of your lives without each other. Twins have special bonds and it was taken away from you. Your father and I thought seriously about going into hiding so that you wouldn't be separated."

Blaise could see the anguish in his mom's eyes and he put his hand on hers, "You did the right thing. You did the only thing that you knew for a fact would protect Hermione. Yeah, it sucks that I had to grow up without her, but she's here now and that's all that matters."

"He's absolutely right. You gave up everything to keep me safe and I will be eternally grateful to you for that. The past is the past and all we can do now is move forward. I'm looking forward to learn anything and everything there is to know about our family...mom." Hermione thought for a moment before she said that last word. She didn't want to feel like she was betraying anyone, but she also knew for a fact that Liz and Lewis would be ok with Hermione referring to her biological parents as 'mom and dad.'

When Rachel heard Hermione call her 'mom,' she started crying again. Blaise patted her hand and then rolled his eyes, "She's very emotional." He said to Hermione.

Rachel looked at the clock and frowned, "It looks like your father is going to be having another late night."

Hermione realized that she had absolutely no idea what Felix did for a living, "Where does he work?" She asked.

"He works at the Ministry in the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes in the Obliviator Headquarters."

"Oh wow; he's an Obliviator?"

"Yes; one of the best." Rachel said proudly.

"That's so awesome."

"It is, but the job calls for very odd hours sometimes."

"I can imagine." Hermione yawned and suddenly felt completely exhausted.

"Oh dear, you much be exhausted; you've had quite the day." Rachel said.

Hermione laughed, "Yes, it has been very eventful. Would you mind if I called it a night?"

"Of course not! You go get some rest and we'll see you in the morning."

"Ok; goodnight." She gave them a radiant smile and then headed off towards her bedroom.

Rachel turned to her son, "So, my love; how are _you _holding up?"

Blaise smiled, "I'm good, mom."

"Are you really?"

"Yes, I swear."

"And you're ok with having a sister?"

"I really am. I feel...different when we are together. It's hard to explain, but it's like I feel whole. I never knew I _wasn't _feeling whole until she came into my life. It's weird though, because we go to school together and I never felt this way when I was around her then."

"As I said earlier, twins have special bonds and it's stronger among witches and wizards. The reason you never felt it before today is because of the charm that your father put on Hermione. It also had a special charm to actually break the bond between the two of you. We didn't want to risk the chance of either one of you ever figuring things out. It broke my heart to do it, but-"

"It was for the best."

"Yes; you are such a great kid." Rachel squeezed his hand.

"How are _you _doing?" Blaise asked.

"I couldn't be better. My family is whole again; the way it should have always been."

"Well, it's the way it'll be from now on."

Rachel yawned and Blaise did as well, "It really had been a long day. I think I'll turn in too."

"Ok, sweetheart." Rachel got up and pulled Blaise off his stool and pulled him into a hug.

"Goodnight, mom." Blaise kissed her cheek and headed off to his room.

Rachel wrapped the cookies up and put them in the fridge then she shut off the kitchen light and decided to call it a night as well. It had been the perfect end to an amazing day.

* * *

**This chapter was petty much just to show that Hermione has accepted her new life, but that she will always want to be a part of her old life as well. I absolutely **_**hate **_**the stories where she totally disowns her adoptive parents. So **_**not **_**realistic. **

**Let me know what you think! :) **


	4. Reactions

_**I don't usually get chapters out this early, but I've been working on this one since I started the story and it's my favorite one so far! I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!**_

_**I'm trying really hard to keep everyone in character as much as possible and if I stray from it all, please let me know so I can fix it!**_

_**Enjoy!**_

* * *

Despite having been exhausted when she had gone to bed, Hermione woke up shortly after seven the next morning. No matter how late she had gone to bed, she had always been an early riser. She grabbed her toiletries and went to the private bathroom that adjoined her room. After her morning bathroom ritual, Hermione rummaged through her trunk for the day's attire. It was supposed to be scorching outside today, though that was no surprise for the end of August, so Hermione settled on a purple tank top, her favorite pair of denim shorts, and a pair of black strappy sandals. Every item of clothing that she owned had had to be altered to fit her new...attributes. She'd had to take in all her tops and bottoms and she'd had to let out her bras. She pulled on her shirt and shorts and noticed that he shorts now went to her upper thigh, rather than to just above her knees like they had before. When she had undergone her 'makeover,' she had grown about five inches as well. Some people had longer torsos and some people had longer legs; Hermione definitely had longer legs. Hermione absolutely loved her legs, she just wasn't sure that she wanted to show that much of them off. She pulled her shorts down to cover more leg, but then they were riding very low on her hips and showing off way too much of he stomach. She absolutely refused to alter her favorite shorts anymore than she already had, so she made her shirt longer and saw that it now looked like a dress. Groaning, Hermione altered the length of the shirt again and then pulled her shorts up a bit more so that they stopped at her mid thigh and she only showed off a sliver of her stomach. Pleased with the results, Hermione grabbed a silver butterfly hair clip that her mom had given her for her last birthday and pulled back the top layer of her hair and locked it into place with the clip.

She smiled at her reflection and then frowned; how the hell was she going to tell her friends about this? She was going back to school the day after tomorrow and she just knew that all hell would break loose. She had to tell them before Sunday so that they would have at least a little time to adjust before seeing them again. She knew Harry would be at the Burrow and she thought about going there to tell them in person, but the whole reason for her coming here was so that she could spend a little time with her new found parents before she had to go back to school. It looked like the best choice would be for her to write a letter to all of them. That settled it; after breakfast, she was going to excuse herself long enough to write a letter to Harry and the Weasleys and then she would be able to relax a bit and spend some quality time with the Zabinis.

Hermione went downstairs and saw everyone in the dining room; it seemed that they were also early risers; she was pleased to see Felix there as well. He looked up from the table and smiled when he saw her. He got up and went over and gave her a hug.

"I'm so sorry that I wasn't here last night when you arrived."

"It's ok; mom told me that you had an emergency at the Ministry."

Rachel smiled at the sound of 'mom' coming from Hermione lips.

"Yes, she told me that she told you all about what I do."

"She did, and it sounds fascinating. I would love it if you could tell more about it some time."

Felix smiled, "Of course, my dear."

Hermione joined everyone at the table and dug in to her breakfast. Just as they were finishing up, a bird flew through the window and perched itself on Hermione's chair. She immediately recognised it as a Hogwarts' owl and she scratched it's head and took the letters. One was addressed to her and the the other to Blaise. The owls always had instructions to deliver the letters to specific people and the owls always seemed to know exactly where to go; it never ceased to amaze her.

She took the letters and scratched the owl again. It hooted pleasantly at her and then took off though the window again. Hermione handed Blaise his letter and she opened her own. When she pulled out the letter, a shiny badge fell out. She examined it and squeeled with glee.

"I made Head Girl!"

Rachel and Felix both grinned and congratulated her.

Blaise held up one of his own, "Head Boy."

Now their parents were extatic; the jumped up and engulfed their kids in hugs.

"I'm so proud of you both; congratulations! Now you with both get the chance to spend more time together and really get to know each other!" Rachel gushed.

Hermione and Blaise smiled at each other and Hermione blushed, "I was afraid that Malfoy was going to be named Head Boy. Insufferable prat or not, he _is _brilliant." She shot Blaise a look, "If you tell him that, I'll vehemently deny it and then curse you into oblivion."

Blaise smirked at her, "He may be 'brilliant,' but I am clearly more so." He held up the badge to prove it.

Hermione scanned over her letter.

_Dear Miss Granger, _

_Welcome to your final year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry! I am pleased to announce that you have been chosen as this year's Head Girl. Enclosed, you will find your Head Girl badge as well as a list of all your required books and supplies._

_I also ask that you change into your uniform before you board the train as I will request your presence in the prefect's compartment as soon as the train leaves the station._

_Congratulations and I will see you soon!_

_Sincerely, _

_Minerva McGonagall_

Hermione held up her letter, "Did she ask you to meet her in the prefect's compartment as well?"

"Yes, and she asked me to put on my uniform before leaving for the station; I loathe those uniforms."

"Sounds like we will be busy before we even get to school."

"Can't wait." Blaise's voice was dripping with sarcasm.

Rachel looked at the clock, "Oh dear, I'm afraid I have a few errands I have to run this morning."

Felix frowned, 'Yes, and I have to go back to work."

Hermione smiled, "That's ok; I need to sit down and write a letter to my friends before we go back to school. They need to know before everyone else finds out."

"Yes, I suppose I should write to Draco and Theo as well. They'll crucify me if they find out along with everyone else as though they were mere commoners." Blaise smirked with a hint of arrogance.

"Well, we will all make it a point to meet up for dinner tonight, won't we?" Rachel gave a pointed look to her husband.

Felix chuckled, "Yes, I promise I will be home for dinner." He kissed his wife, clapped Blaise on the back and squeezed Hermione's shoulder affectionately, then he disappeared with a 'POP'.'

Rachel looked at Hermione, "I wish we had more time together, my dear."

Hermione smiled, "I completely understand; you have lives to live. Besides, this is only the beginning."

Rachel smiled, "Well, I won't be out too long. You kids have fun with your letters."

She grabbed her purse off the desk and then apparated away.

"Yes, have fun indeed. How do I tell me friends that I'm not who they thought I was. What if they see me as a traitor?" Hermione was genuinely worried that Harry and the Weasleys would turn their backs on her when they found out.

Blaise took her hand, "If they see you as a traitor, then they aren't your friends Hermione. Any fool will see that you didn't have a choice in any of this. They will also see that you are the same person you've always been. You just look a little different now."

Hermione smiled, "A little?"

"I may not be particularly fond of Potter and Weasley, but I believe that they are good friends to you and they will understand. Even if they don't, you still have me. You will always have me." Blaise smiled.

"You feel it too, don't you? The connection we have."

"Yes, I told mom about it and she said that it's a bond that twins have and it's much more powerful with witches and wizards. She said that dad neutralized it the night he put the glamour spell on you to keep us from figuring things out in the future."

"And when he removed the glamour, the bond came back."

Blaise nodded.

"Well, I like it; it feels...right." A tear slid down Hermione's cheek and Blaise wiped it away with is thumb.

"No matter what happens, you won't be alone...ever."

Hermione was full on crying now and Blaise wrapped her in a hug. They stood there for a few moments, just hugging and Hermione eventually stopped crying. She pulled away from Blaise's embrace and wiped her tears away, "You must be so tired of all the crying."

Blaise smiled, "I've been around enough women in my life to know that that's just what you do. Happy, sad, mad; cry, cry, cry. I'm used to it."

Hermione laughed, "That's about right."

"Go write your letter. We'll go have lunch or something this afternoon."

"That'll be nice. Ok, I'm officially over crying; I swear."

She grinned at Blaise and darted up the stairs.

Blaise was still hungry, so he sat down and finished his breakfast.

* * *

Blaise was on his way to his room when he heard the doorbell ring. He answered the door and was greeted with a copy of The Daily Prophet being shoved in his face.

"Please tell me that this is a seriously disturbing joke, Blaise."

Blaise immediately recognized the voice as that of his best friend Draco Malfoy. Blaise took the paper and Draco stepped inside the foyer as Blaise read the headline.

**_New Zabini Heir Discovered_**

_This reporter has it on good authority that the illustrious Zabini family has recently acquired a new addition. Having been put into hiding as an infant, seventeen year old Hermione Jean Granger, best friend of renowned wizard Harry Potter, is in fact Hermione Olivia Zabini, biological daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Felix Zabini and twin sister to their son Blaise who is also a classmate of Ms. Granger's at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Due to an agreement that was legal during that time that had been made in 1875 by Isaac Zabini and Charles Acey, it was promised to Mr. Acey that the next born female from the Zabini bloodline would be turned over to him as payment for services rendered that are unknown at this time. Almost 100 years went by before a baby girl was born to the Zabini family; and in fear for her safety, a glamour was placed upon her, and she was sent to live with a muggle family. Aldo Acey, who was a known murderer, would have been the Acey to gain custody of the child, had the agreement been kept. Last week, due to a raid by the ministry, Aldo Acey was captured and killed by Aurors, shortly after he had murdered a muggle family. As Aldo was the last living member of the Acey bloodline, upon his death, the threat to Ms. Granger was buried along with his body._

"Fucking hell." Blaise swore. Hermione would lose it when she found out that their secret was now known to all of the wizarding world.

Draco punched the paper to get Blaise's attention, "Tell me it's not true, Zabini."

"Ok, it's not true."

"I'm serious Blaise; this isn't funny."

"What do you want me to say, Draco? It's all true; every word. Hermione Granger is my twin sister that my parents sent away when we were born to protect her from a psychopath."

Draco watched Blaise to see if he was bluffing and when Blaise just returned his stare, Draco let out a whistle, "Holy fucking shit, mate."

Blaise chuckled, "That about sums it up."

"Does she know about this yet?"

"Yeah; as soon as my parents found out that this Acey asshole was dead, they sent her parents a letter, then they come to me, dump all this _shit _on me, and _then _they say that we are going to meet them. All of this was yesterday; we went to their house and had a little 'family reunion.' My parents cried, her parents cried, she cried, and I'm still just trying to absorb it all. Hermione has it the worst though; she has a lot more to deal with. I gained a sister, but she gained new parents, a brother, a whole new identity. She's taking it pretty well, all things considered."

Draco let out a breath, "Wow, that's...insane. She doesn't look anything like you or your parents; that must have been one hell of a glamour."

"My father cast a charm on her that replaced all of my mother's physical attributes with her adoptive mother's. It was a pretty intense charm from what I'm told; only my father could take it off her."

"Has he taken it off her yet?"

"See for yourself." Blaise turned towards the staircase, "Hey Hermione; can you come down here for a minute?" He hollered.

Draco's eyes got wide, "She's here!?"

"She wanted to spend a few days with our parents before we go back to school."

Draco's jaw hit the floor when he saw Hermione come around the corner, "Fuck me." he murmured.

Blaise had been expecting a reaction like that; he smirked and elbowed Draco in the ribs, "The elves are gonna be pissed if they have to clean up a puddle of Draco drool."

Draco snapped his mouth shut and glared at his best friend.

Hermione turned the corner and saw Blaise standing by the front door. She smiled at him and then noticed he wasn't alone. Her eyes went to the other person and she suddenly forgot how to breathe; it was Draco Malfoy. Blaise was right, he really had changed ever since his father had been sent to Azkaban. He no longer dressed like he had just stepped off the cover of GQ Magazine. Today he was sporting a casual look with jeans and a black t-shirt. His hair was shorter than it had been last year and he had stopped gelling it back during their fifth year and now he just let it hang loose around his face. One of Hermione's dirty secrets was that she had a major crush on the Slytherin. It had begun at the beginning of their sixth year when Draco had rescued her from a couple of particularly nasty fourth year Slytherins who had disarmed her and tried to hex her when she was getting off the train. Draco had come out of the compartment that she was standing in front of and disarmed them, taken their wands and given them detention. He had picked her wand up off the ground, handed it back to her and then walked off the train like it was just another day. She had stood there, completely dumbfounded by the fact that Draco Malfoy had come to her rescue. In the past, he would have helped his fellow housemates, rather than save her. That day had been the beginning of Hermione's little and very secret infatuation. She would catch herself studying the Slytherin during meals and classes. He had completely stopped picking on other people, but he still thoroughly enjoyed giving them detention when he caught them breaking school rules, and every once in a while, he would unfairly give detentions to Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs when the mood suited him. He was always in the company of Blaise and another close friend of theirs, Theodore Nott, and they were always surrounded by hoards of girls. They were all, by far, the best looking guys in the school and they knew it. Blaise was always a little more discrete and humble about his "dates," but Draco didn't know the meaning of the word 'subtle' when it came to his conquests. Hermione had never had any intentions of making her feelings towards Draco known; she was perfectly happy admiring him from afar.

Seeing Draco now, standing in Blaise's foyer, well, it was hers now too, Hermione felt all of those feelings rush back to the surface and she was suddenly extremely nervous. What would he say about her being his best friend's sister, and most importantly, what would he say about her new appearance? Scolding herself for being so shallow, Hermione pushed all those thoughts away and she made her way down the stairs. As she was walking towards them, she couldn't help but notice the way Draco was very unabashedly checking her out.

She stopped in front of them and smiled at Blaise and then look at Draco, "Malfoy." She said by way of greeting.

He was still admiring Hermione's new appearance, and Blaise elbowed him in the ribs again. Draco's eyes shot up to hers, "Granger." Draco glanced from her to Blaise and back to her again, "Or, umm, Zabini."

Hermione smiled and Draco had to make himself not stare at her; she was the most stunning creature he had ever seen. She was most definitely a Zabini, but he could still see some of the old Hermione Granger in her features. His hand was itching to reach out and touch her perfect hair. Never in his life would he have ever thought that he would _ever _have thoughts like this towards Hermione Granger. But then, she wasn't a Granger, was she? He had gotten over the whole 'Mudblood' thing years ago after his father had been incarcerated, and since then he had come to really see who Hermione was. She was obviously incredibly smart, kind, fiercely loyal, and feisty as all hell. He remembered all the times that they had verbally spared and he loved the fire that danced in her eyes as she would lay into him. She had never been unattractive, she had just never really appealed to him psychically enough to make him be willing to deal with the death threats that he would undoubtedly receive by Potter and Weasley if he had tried to persue her. Not to mention the fact that she herself would have probably tried to hex him if he had shown her any interest. After all, it wasn't so easy for a person, especially a person like Hermione, to forget about the five years of verbal abuse that she had had to endure at his hands. Knowing that he would never stand a chance with her anyway, Draco was perfectly content to just stare at her, and you better believe that he was going to stare at her as much as he possibly could. His eyes raked over her all of her new attributes, and he stopped at her long, flawless legs. He had always had been a leg man and she had the greatest pare of legs that he had ever seen. He could imagine them wrapped around his waist while he was-

Hermione's voice brought Draco back to reality, "I can't say that I'm surprised that you told Malfoy so soon." She said to Blaise with a smile.

Blaise frowned at her, "Um, I didn't tell him."

Blaise handed the paper to Hermione and as she scanned it, her smile vanished and was replaced with a look of horror, "Oh, my god! It's in the Daily Prophet! The whole bloody wizarding world knows about it now! I just found out about all of this yesterday and now thousands of people know! How did Skeeter know!?"

"I haven't got a clue." Blaise said.

Draco tore his eyes away from Hermione long enough to scoff at Blaise, "Oh please, it makes perfect sense. Your family is one of the most well known and influential families of our world. Of course Skeeter would have spies around you at all times just in case a story as monumental as this might be discovered. She's had spies on my family's tail for as long as I can remember; I've even caught a few of them buzzing around. Clearly I'm more observant than you."

"Observant my ass; your family is just notorious enough to need news reporters snooping around all the time. Well, you _used _to be notorious. Things have calmed down a lot for you since, well, you know." Blaise knew that his father's incarceration was a touchy subject and he didn't like to bring it up.

Draco smirked at Blaise, "Since my father was sent to rot in prison for the rest of his life? Yes, I'm well aware of how things have changed, and I quite like it, to be honest. It's nice to be able to live a somewhat normal life."

Hermione whined, "I'm never going to ever have a normal life, am I?"

Blaise put his arm around his sister, "Not a chance in hell."

Hermione sniveled and then she gasped, "Oh, shit; Harry and Ron probably know now. They are going to be pissed that they had to hear about this from a newspaper! They are probably on their way to my house right now."

As if on cue, the doorbell rang and Hermione jumped. Blaise sighed as Draco reached over and opened the front door. Sure enough, Ron Weasley came bursting through the door, looking ready to kill. He looked from Blaise to Draco and ignored Hermione completely.

"All right you tossers, where's Hermione? Her parents told us that she was here."

Blaise and Draco looked at Hermione with raised eyebrows; Ron didn't recognize her.

Blaise cocked his head to the side, "Us?"

Just then, Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley peaked around the door.

"That would be us." Ginny said. "We didn't want to just barge in like my brother here. That's so rude, Ron. You need to learn some bloody manners before-" Ginny looked at Hermione and gasped after a moment as realization set it, "Hermione!?"

Ginny threw aside the matter of manners and rushed in and grabbed Hermione's hands and held her arms out as Ginny studied her, "Oh, my God, Hermione, you look absolutely stunning! I can't believe it!" She hugged her. "So it's true, you are a Zabini!" She looked from Hermione to Blaise and back again, "You really are twins! This is so exciting!" She hugged Hermione again and Hermione relaxed slightly. At least she had _one _friend who didn't seem to mind.

Ron looked at his sister like she had just sprouted a second head, "What are you going on about, Ginny? That is _not _Hermione!"

Hermione rolled her eyes and put her hands on her hips, "Of course it's me, Ronald!" She snapped.

At the sound of Hermione's voice, the color drained from Ron's face. Harry finally decided to become a part of this conversation as he stepped in and shut the door. He walked over to Hermione and looked her up and down, but without trying to look like a pervert. She was like a sister to him, after all.

"You-you look-I have no words." Harry smiled at Hermione blushed.

Finally catching on, Ron also studied Hermione's figure. He tried to say something, but no words came out.

Hermione rolled her eyes, "Oh come on, guys; you are severely exaggerating."

Draco snorted and Ron glared at him.

Ginny grinned at her friend, "We are not exaggerating, Hermione; you really are stunning. I'm not that surprised though, your whole family is bloody gorgeous."

Suddenly remembering that there was another Zabini in the room, Ginny's eyes darted to Blaise and she saw him looking at her with an amused expression and a quirked eyebrow. She blushed a shade of red to rival her hair and quickly looked away.

She quickly changed the subject, "How are you doing, Hermione? I'm sure you were shocked, to say the least."

"I'm fine, Ginny. I'm great, actually. The Zabini's are amazing people; I really don't think that I could have asked for a better surprise family." Hermione smiled at Blaise.

Ron looked at everyone like they had gone mental, "Are you mental, Hermione? These are Zabini's we're talking about."

Draco glared at Ron, "You're a guest in the Zabini house, Weasley; watch yourself."

Ron ignored Draco and marched over to Hermione, "You can't possibly be alright with being a member of their family, Hermione."

It was Hermione's turn to glare at Ron, "I'm perfectly alright with being a Zabini, Ron. They are good people!"

"Zabini is a Slytherin, Hermione. Draco Malfoy's best friend and follower of Vol-"

Ron was cut off when Draco grabbed his shoulder and slammed him into the door, "I'm not going to tell you again, Weasley."

Ron shoved Draco off him, "Get your damn Deatheater hand's off me, Malfoy!"

Draco pulled back to punch Ron, but he felt a hand on his arm, stopping him. He looked back and saw Hermione giving him a pleading look.

Draco growled, "You shut him up or I will."

Draco stepped away and Hermione turned on Ron, "Now you listen to me, Ronald Weasley; the only thing you're going by is your preconceived notions of nonsense. You know absolutely _nothing _about his family, _my _family and I will not stand hear and let you badmouth us! Everything you say about the Zabinis, you say about me and I will _not _tolerate any of it! Ginny seems to have enough common sense to know not to judge a book by it's cover, but you clearly lack that. This is who I am now, and if you can't accept it, then you can leave."

If it were possible, fire would be shooting out of both Ron's and Hermione's ears; neither one was willing to back down, so Ron just shot Hermione a baleful look and stormed out of the house, slamming the door behind him.

A tear slid down Hermione's cheek, "I can't deal with this right now." She turned on her heel and ran up the stairs.

Ginny was seething, "My brother is the stupidest person on the planet!"

Draco had to bite his tongue to keep from responding.

Ginny looked at Blaise, "Do you mind if I go talk to her?"

Blaise shook his head, "Her room is the third door on the left."

Ginny turned to Harry, "See if you can go talk some sense into my idiot brother. I'm going to talk to Hermione."

Harry opened his mouth to protest, but Ginny was already half way up the stairs.

Harry turned to Blaise and glared, "I'm not leaving either one of them here with the two of you."

"Do I need to remind you where you are, Potter?" Draco took a menacing step towards Harry, but Blaise stopped him.

"He's just looking out for his friend, Draco. I get that Potter, I really do. But, let me ask you something; what do you know about my family for a fact? You know for a fact that I am a Slytherin. You also know for a fact that Draco is a Slytherin. What about my family do you know for a fact?"

Harry didn't respond and Blaise sneered at him, "That's right; you know fuck all about my family Potter. For all you know, my father could be Merlin reincarnated. I would never do anything to hurt Hermione; she's my sister for Christ's sake! The female Weasley is also safe in my house, in case you were wondering." Blaise spat.

Draco saw that Blaise was clenching his fists and trying to keep from launching himself at Potter. Party time was over, Blaise was pissed.

"Ok, Potter, time to go." Draco said.

"I'm not-"

"Now, Potter! Your girls will be fine!" Draco was also itching to punch him.

Harry looked from Draco and Blaise to the stairway before finally heading towards the front door, "If Ginny doesn't come home tonight, I'll be back." Harry said.

Blaise closed in on Harry and Draco grabbed his arm to stop him, "Looking forward to it Potter."

Harry glared at the Slytherins before leaving the house in much the same manner as Ron had. After Harry was gone, Draco let go of Blaise's arm.

"You ok, mate?"

"Fucking peachy."

"Did you really expect Weasel and Pothead to just accept all of this with open arms and big grins? They think they've lost their precious little princess to the Dark Side. That's all they are ever going to see when they look at us. It seems to me that was really matters is that Granger doesn't believe any of that rubbish."

"Zabini." Blaise said.

"What?"

"You said Granger; it's Zabini."

"Oh, right. I can't call her Zabini, it's weird."

"So, call her Hermione."

"That's even more weird, _Zabini_." Draco smirked.

Well, I figure that after the way you were undressing her with your eyes the _entire _time she was down here, the least you can do is call her Hermione."

Draco feigned innocence, "I have no idea what you're talking about. Your sister or not, she's still Potter and Weasley's best friend, not to mention an insufferable know it all."

Blaise smirked, "Keep telling yourself that."

"I think your rage towards Potter is making you loony."

"If either one of those two twits makes this any harder for her than it already is, I'll kill them myself."

"Ok, but I get to help."

"I need to do something to get my mind off this shit. I need to get a new broom for Quidditch this year; want to come?"

"Hell yes I do. Anything that will give us a better chance at beating those bloody Gryffindors this year."

Blaise grinned and they both apparated to the Quidditch shop.

* * *

**_How was it? I really love this story and I hope you guys do to! :)_**


	5. Shopping

_**I'm so glad that you guys like my story! Thanks so much for all the faves, follows and reviews!**_

_**And now for a little clarification...Yes, this is a Dramione; no, they are not going to end up madly in love after only seeing each other once. Despite the fact that they are harboring secret attractions towards each other, It's going to be a while before either of them makes a move. It won't be a long while, just a realistic while. :)**_

_**Also, I've had a few people mention the topic of Hermione's new look. Considering that she's Blaise's twin sister, she kind of has to change for it all to make sense. I'm not going to make a huge thing about her new appearance, but it's going to be a topic of some conversations at least until she's back in school and people get used to it. Plus...she's a teenager. Need I say more? :)**_

* * *

Hermione was sitting on her bed glaring at the article that had singlehandedly shot her plan to hell. She had been planning on writing to everyone and then letting them get used to the idea before showing them the 'new her." Baby steps; she had wanted baby steps. This had been one giant _shove _and now Ron hated her. Ginny had taken it in stride and had been very supportive, as Hermione had suspected, but she wasn't sure how Harry had taken it. He had just stood there, looking between her and Ron with a confused expression on his face. Was he siding with Ron or Ginny? She hadn't been entirely surprised when Ron had freaked out her, but she _had _been surprised when he acted like it was all her fault and as though it had been her choice. She couldn't stand the fact that one of her best friends was so mad at her. So much had happened and she really needed all the friends and support that she could get.

A knock on her door brought Hermione out of her thoughts, "Come in."

The door opened and Ginny poked her head inside, "Can I come in?"

Hermione smiled, "Of course."

Ginny stepped in and shut the door behind her, "Ron will come around, Hermione. You know what a hot head he is and this is...a lot to take in."

Hermione sighed, "I know, Gin, but that doesn't change the fact that I want to hex the stupid git."

Ginny grinned, "Get in line, sister."

Hermione smiled and patted the bed beside her and Ginny came to sit beside her.

"Did Harry say anything after I left?" Hermione asked.

"I told him to go talk some sense into Ron while I talked to you and her started protesting about leaving me and you alone with Zabini and Malfoy."

Hermione rolled her eyes, "I guess I was stupid to think that everyone would just accept this with big smiles."

"A little unrealistic, yes; but not stupid."

Hermione gave Ginny a small smile and Ginny decided to change the subject, "Can I just tell you how jealous I am that you are going to be spending so much time with two extremely edible guys?"

Ginny gave her a devilish smile and Hermione laughed, "Well, _one _of those guys is my brother and the other one is-"

"Heart stoping beautiful?" Ginny offered.

"I was going to say Malfoy; he's in his own category."

"He certainly is, and you are going to be spending a whole lot of time with him, I imagine. You know, with your brother being his best friend and all."

"If you have a point, please get to it soon."

"I know about your crush on him."

Hermione's eyes went wide, "How did you-why would you think that?"

Ginny rolled her eyes, "I'm your best friend, Hermione. It's my job to know these things."

"But how-was I obvious? Oh, god, I hope no one else noticed!" Hermione was starting to panic.

"Calm down; you weren't obvious at all. I just happened to see you looking at him a few times the way I used to look at Harry."

"Oh, Ginny, you can't tell _anyone_!"

Ginny pretended to be offended, "What kind of a friend do you think I am, Hermione?"

"I would absolutely _die _if he ever found out!"

Ginny smiled, "Your secret is safe with me."

Hermione hit Ginny with a pillow, "What about that comment you made earlier about my family? You fancy Blaise, don't you."

Ginny blushed, "Can you blame me? It's not like he'd waste his time on me, though, but I still get to look. We shall make a game out of it; we will make some popcorn and sit in your common room and ogle Blaise and Malfoy."

"What are you talking about Ginny? You are absolutely beautiful; Blaise would be a complete git to not see everything that I see."

Ginny looked down at her hands, "Harry never saw it. If I couldn't land Harry, there's no way I'd ever get someone as amazing as Blaise."

Hermione frowned, "Ginny, you know why Harry...rejected you. He said it was too awkward with your brother being his best friend."

"So he says." Ginny replied. The subject of Harry rejecting Ginny was still a very touchy subject for her even though it had happened over a year ago. Ginny had been head over heels for Harry and he had flat out rejected her, saying that he didn't want to risk losing his friendship with either Ron or her by getting into a relationship.

"Ginny, I thought you had made peace with this."

"I have, it just still hurts sometimes."

"Well, the best way to get over a broken heart is to find someone who's actually worthy of your affection."

Ginny chuckled, "Still talking about Blaise?"

"He's a good guy, Ginny."

"Yea, and he's way out of my league."

Hermione glared at her friend and opened her mouth to protest when there was a knock at the door.

"Come in." Hermione said.

The door opened and Rachel poked her head in and immediately saw The Daily Prophet and frowned, "Oh dear, I was hoping you hadn't seen it yet."

Hermione stood up and walked to her mom, "Oh, I've seen it; so have all my friends."

At the mention of friends, Rachel noticed Ginny, "Oh, hello there. Who might you be?"

Ginny stood up and held her hand out to Rachel, "I'm Ginny Weasley, ma'am."

Rachel gasped, "You are Arthur Weasley's little girl! Oh child, you have my deepest sympathy; living with all those boys!"

Hermione and Ginny laughed, "Well, it has certainly given me a thick skin."

Hermione smiled, "Yes, it has. She is not one to be trifled with."

Rachel put her hand on Ginny's cheek, "Well, you are certainly lovely, aren't you. It's good that you have all those boys around to look out for you."

Ginny considered it to be quite the compliment, considering who it was coming from, "Thank you, ma'am." Ginny blushed.

Rachel waved her hand, "Nonsense; call me Rachel!"

She turned her attention back to Hermione, "Are you alright?"

"Yes, I'll be fine; people were going to find out eventually anyway."

"Well, you know what always cheers me up when I have a bad day?" Rachel pulled a sack out of her purse and handed it to Hermione, "Shopping!"

Hermione opened it up and gasped, "There's so much money in here!"

"Yes, and it's yours. I insist that you take your lovely friend and go shopping. Do not come back until you have spent every last penny! I have added you to the Zabini account at Gringott's. If you decided that you need some more, just go in and show them your wand to prove you identity and you will get access to our vault."

Hermione very much wanted to protest, but seeing the smile on Rachel's face, she just couldn't do it. She knew that she was just going to have to get used to all of this; this was her life now.

Hermione put the money in her bag and smiled, "Thanks, mum. Do you want to come with us?"

"Oh, I would love nothing more, but I have a little matter to address at The Daily Prophet. When I get done with Rita Skeeter, she will be begging for scraps on the corner!"

Rachel kissed Hermione goodbye, hugged Ginny, and then was out the door again.

Ginny squealed and grabbed Hermione's hand, "Come on, we are _so _going shopping!"

* * *

Three hours later, Hermione was just about dead on her feet. She had practically bought out Diagon Alley. She had gotten all the supplies she needed for school, treats and toys for Crookshanks, so many clothes and shoes that she had no idea what to do with, several outfits for Ginny, much to her friend's protests, makeup to better accentuate her amazing new features, as Ginny put it, miscellaneous accessories, and a cheesy t-shirt for Blaise that said, "World's Best Brother." Hermione was about to insist that they sit down when Ginny grabbed her arm and starting pulling her towards Madame Malkin's.

"I saw the cutest dress in here earlier and I think you should get it!" Ginny said excitedly.

"Ginny, I need to sit down before my feet fall off!" Hermione whined.

Ginny just rolled her eyes and pulled Hermione into the store, "There will be plenty of time for resting later!"

Ginny went straight to the rack where she had seen the dress and pulled it off the hanger, "Here, go try this on."

Hemione stared at the dress, "Ginny, that is _not _a dress; that's underwear!"

Ginny rolled her eyes, "Oh, live a little Hemione! You are going to _kill _in this!" Ginny shoved Hermione into the dressing room and held the door closed, "You are not coming out unless you are wearing that dress!"

Hermione growled at her friend as she began undressing. She slipped the dress on, zipped it up, and then turned around to inspect it.

"Wow." Hermione breathed.

* * *

Blaise and Draco had spent most of the afternoon getting their supplies for school and blowing a lot of money on Quidditch stuff. They had just come out of Quality Quidditch Supplies when the were both smacked in the head from behind. They spun around preparing to pummel the culprit when they were met with the mischievous grin of Theodore Nott. Theodore was the third member of their group and as equally attractive. He had shaggy brown hair and hazel eyes that often changed shades, depending on his mood. Being a Quidditch player, he was just as fit as Blaise and Draco and he made damn sure that everyone knew it. While Draco's cockiness had mellowed out a bit in the last few years, Theodore's was still going strong. He knew how much the girls wanted him and he enjoyed it immensely. He had had to tone it down a bit since he had started going out with Daphne Greengrass at the beginning of the summer, but he was still a major flirt. Daphne didn't mind so much, as long as he never touched. Hermione, Harry and Ron had always been referred to as 'The Golden Trio,' and over the years, people had started referring to Blaise, Draco and Theodore as 'The Silver Trio.' They absolutely despised the name, and they would beat the stuffing out of anyone that called them that, unless it was a girl. If it was used by a girl, they used it to their "advantage."

At the sight of their friend, Blaise and Draco smiled at him.

"What are you wankers doing down here? Haven't you read the paper today?" Theodore asked.

Blaise growled, "That bloody paper! Yes Nott, we've seen it. Draco saw it first and was kind enough to show it to me."

"Your welcome." Draco smiled.

"How in the bloody hell do they come up with this stuff anyway?" Theodore asked.

Blaise and Draco looked at each other for a moment before Blaise spoke, "It's true, Theo."

Theo looked at his two mates, waiting for them to start laughing. When they didn't, his eyes went wide, "You're taking the piss-"

"Nope, it's all true; I don't have any idea how that twat Skeeter found out about it though."

Theo let out breath, "I'll be damned. You and Granger are...twins?"

Draco grinned, "Can you believe it?"

Blaise punched Draco, "I'm glad that you find this so amusing."

"Well, it _is _highly amusing." Theo said, "I mean, it _is _Granger we're talking about. She's nothing like your family."

Draco snorted, "You haven't seen her."

Blaise gave his friend a knowing look and Draco gave him a guilty smile.

"Oh, and you _have _seen her?"

Draco nodded, "She's staying with Blaise until we go back to school."

Theo looked thoughtful, "I see."

"She's a lot like my family, actually." Blaise volunteered, "She's brilliant, like me; we've both been made the Heads for this year. She's got a big heart like my mother and she's fascinated by the strangest things, just like my father."

"Interesting. She's also your twin and has had a glamour on her all these years? What does she look like now?"

Blaise smirked, "Ask Draco."

Draco glared at him, "Just because I think she's..fit, it doesn't mean what you _think _it means. I would have to be bloody blind not to notice her new...attributes."

Theo grinned, "Does Draco fancy your newly found sister?"

"He'd fancy a good roll in the hay with her, I suspect." Blaise snickered.

"And you're ok with that?"

"Well, he's assured me that that isn't going to happen, so I'm trusting him. He's well aware of what I'm going to do to him if he tries that shit that got him pummeled last summer by that girl's brother."

Theo grinned, "I remember that!"

Draco glared at his best mates, "Would you two stop talking about me like I'm not here!? Also, I have no idea what you're talking about."

Blaise scoffed, 'Bullshit you don't know; Theo and I both had to pull that guy off you after he caught you with his sister."

Draco smirked, 'Oh yea, I remember that. I never got to finish what I started; at least, not with her."

Blaise rolled his eyes, "And that's why you're going to stay away from Hermione."

"I already told you, Zabini; I do not fancy your bloody sister!" Draco barked.

"We'll see."

Draco rolled his eyes, "Are we going to stand out in the street all day like complete gits, or are we going somewhere else?"

"I need to go to Malkin's and get a present for my mum's birthday." Blaise said.

"Well let's get to it then. You coming along, Nott?"

Theo looked at his watch, "Yeah, I'll tag along for a while. I have to meet Daphne in an hour."

They all headed off in the direction of the dress shop.

* * *

Ginny yanked open the door and gasped, 'Oh, Hemione! I told you it would be amazing!" She grabbed Hermione's hand and pulled her out to stand in front of the set of mirrors, "You are absolutely freaking gorgeous!"

Hermione stared at her reflection in awe; it was a strapless, royal blue dress with shimmery satin material that went to her mid thigh and hugged her curves perfectly. It showed off her cleavage just enough to be sexy, but not overly so. She absolutely loved the dress, but she couldn't imagine when she would _ever _have an occasion to wear it, and she told Ginny that.

"Well, I realize that at our age we don't have that many reasons to wear stuff like this, but wouldn't you just love to be able to at least _say _that you own a dress as amazing as this!?" Ginny exclaimed.

Hermione tuned back around and continued admiring the dress, "Yes, it really is stunning."

Ginny squealed and jumped up and down, "Yay! So, you're buying it then!"

Hermione's eye caught another dress and she pulled it off the rack and handed it to Ginny, "Here, try this on. If I am going to have a dress like this, then so are you!"

Ginny didn't have to be told twice. She grinned and disappeared into the dressing room. After a few moments, she stepped out and Hermione grinned, "Oh Ginny, you really are beautiful." It was a little black sleeveless dress similar in length to Hermione's, with a lace bustline.

The girls were so busy admiring the dresses that they didn't hear the front door open. Blaise, Draco and Theo entered the shop, talking amongst themselves. Theo was the first to look up and he stopped dead in his tracks when he saw the girls.

He let out a low whistle, "Sweet merciful Merlin."

The other two looked up and had similar reactions.

Blaise looked at Hermione and smiled, "You really do look just like our mother; absolutely breathtaking."

She blushed and his eyes wandered over to Ginny and he couldn't help but stare; Hermione noticed this and she grinned. Theo also noticed this and he elbowed Blaise in the ribs, "Red is a good color for you, mate."

Blaise snapped out of his trance and punched Theo in the arm, "Shut up."

Ginny blushed for the second time that day under Blaise's gaze and she looked away. Hermione couldn't help but look at Draco to gauge his reaction to the dress and the look in his eyes set her insides on fire. She knew that it was the dress that was making him give her that look, and she also knew that he would look that way at any girl in a dress like that. She shoved that thought out of her mind and decided to believe that he was looking at her like that because he wanted nothing more than to throw her down and ravage her right there on the floor of Madame Malkins. Of course, she had absolutely no idea that that was pretty much _exactly _what Draco was thinking at that moment. When he laid his eyes on Hermione in that dress, he knew then and there that she was going to be the death of him. How in the hell was he supposed to stay away from her when she was practically begging him to rip her clothes off? It was completely unfair; although it seemed about right considering all the crap that he had put her through in the past. His karma had finally come to collect, it seemed.

Theo had, of course, noticed the 'moment' between Draco and Hermione and he opened his mouth to say something before Draco stopped him, "If you say a _word_, no one will _ever _find your body."

Theo just smirked, Hermione blushed, and Draco looked anywhere but at her. Not being able to resist messing with them a little, Theo walked over and started circling the girls, "It's times like this that I really regret being monogamous."

Both girls snorted in disgust and Hermione put her hands on her hips, "Greengrass really lucked out when she snagged you, didn't she?"

Theo stopped in front of Hermione and was close enough that she could feel the heat coming off his body, "I love the feisty ones. You know, I'd be willing to make an exception for you."

Hermione was so flustered, she didn't know what to do; No guy had ever hit on her so aggressively, let alone someone as hot as Nott. She knew that she was going to have to get used to this kind of attention, so she thought hard for the right response. Her eyes flicked over to Ginny and she suddenly remembered something that Ginny had said to a guy that had hit on her in Hogsmeade last year. Hermione put on the best flirty smile she could manage and she leaned into Nott's ear and said loud enough for everyone to hear, "Dream on, Nott."

He just smiled at her and she side stepped him and walked over to Blaise, "Why are you friends with him?"

"Because I keep his life interesting." Theo winked at her.

She turned her attention back to Blaise, and Theo turned to Ginny. She put her hand up to stop him, "Not a word, Nott." She went over to Hermione and he followed silently behind her with a shit eating grin on his face.

"What are you doing here?" Hermione asked Blaise.

"I came to get a birthday present for mum. Her birthday is on Wednesday and I was thinking we could have a little party for her tomorrow. It's good that your here too; you can pick out your own present for her. What are you guys doing here?"

"Shopping." Hermione said.

"Yea, your mum gave Hermione an obscene amount of money and told her not to come home until it was all gone. She knew how upset Hermione was with the whole Daily Prophet fiasco and she said that shopping always makes her feel better." Ginny smiled.

"It's true; my mum has always had a serious shopping fetish. I don't see any bags though."

Hermione pointed to the dressing room, "They're in my bag; I used a shrinking spell on everything. I've never spent so much money in my life."

"Well, do you feel better?" Blaise asked.

Hermione smiled guiltily, 'Yeah, I think I do."

"Well, mission accomplished then."

"Are you going to add these lovely dresses to your inventory?" Theo asked.

"Yes!" Ginny said before Hermione could change her mind.

"I suppose, but we should go change."

"Now, why would you want to do a thing like that? Just where them out of here and give me some enticing scenery to look at."

Hermione stuck her tongue out at him an he smirked, "Don't tease me, love."

Hermione blushed and grabbed Ginny's arm and pulled her over to the dressing rooms to change. Theo watched them walk away and Draco smacked the back of his head, "Eyes on your own paper, Nott."

Theo grinned, "My paper isn't here, so I have to look at yours."

"She is _not _my paper."

Theo scoffed, "You aren't fooling anyone, mate."

"He's right." Blaise agreed. It was obvious to even the dumbest person that Draco had a thing for his sister and even though Blaise was well aware of his reputation, he also knew that Draco would never do anything to muck up their friendship. Mostly, he was worried about Hermione. He had heard about her innocent reputation at Hogwarts and he didn't think that Draco would be the right person to sully her reputation. Blaise decided that he would worry about that later and would deal with it when the time came. If Draco really wanted to be with Hermione, he wouldn't stop them, but he certainly wasn't going to encourage them either.

Draco punched both of them, "Shut the fuck up about her, would you!?"

Theo put his hands up in surrender, "Ok, I can see that we've hit a nerve."

Draco growled and Theo winked at him.

Draco opened his mouth to lay into Theo, but the girls came out of the dressing room. Draco shut his mouth and just glared at him. Hermione snatched Ginny's dress and put them on the counter and turned to Blaise, "I have no idea what to get mum."

Blaise took her hand and pulled her over to a glass counter and pointed to a gorgeous platinum butterfly pendant with two pink stones, a purple stone, and a green stone.

"Mum is a fool for butterflies. Two pink tourmalines for our birthdays, a peridot for her's, and an amethyst for dad's. I had ordered this a few months ago, and asked them to add another pink stone the other day. I figure we can both give it to her."

"You obviously put a lot of thought into this gift; I can't take that from you."

"You aren't taking anything from me, Hermione. Besides, I think you know enough about mum by now to know that she will cry _buckets _when we both give this to her."

Hermione smiled, "I think you're right."

"Of course I am." Blaise grinned.

"Alright, I'll share your present."

Hermione paid for the dresses and Blaise paid for the pendant and they went back to their friends. Ginny was hurling insults at Theo as he was shamelessly hitting on her and Draco was looking at the pair with an amused expression. Ginny saw Hermione and groaned, "Thank God; can we leave please? I'm two seconds away from hexing this fool's bits off."

Hermione turned to Blaise, "Don't you owe me a lunch?"

"Yes, I do."

"Good, cuz I'm starving." Draco said.

Blaise looked at Ginny, "Care to join us Miss Weasley?"

Ginny blushed, "Sure."

He smiled at her and turned to Theo, "How about you, Nott?"

The girls glared at him and he chuckled, "I would love to, but I have to meet Daphne."

The boys all did a weird, guy handshake thing as their goodbye and Theo turned to the girls. Before they could protest, he took their hands and kissed them, "See you later Little Red." He looked at Hermione, "Vixen."

The girls opened their mouths to protest their new nicknames, but Theo was already out the door.

Hermione turned to Blaise, "Does Greengrass know what kind of a guy he is?"

"He's a shameless flirt, but he's a good boyfriend. He'd never cheat on her."

"That's good I guess. So, where are we going for lunch?"

"The Leaky Cauldron?"

"Works for me."

Hermione shrunk her last package and stuffed it in her bag and they all left the shop.

* * *

While the teens were eating, Ginny, Blaise and Draco got on the subject of Quidditch and Hermione checked out. She had never been interested in the sport, but she always went to the games to support her friends. She wondered how mad Harry and Ron would get when she rooted for both Gryffindor _and _Slytherin when they played against each other this year.

"What's funny?" Ginny asked.

Hermione smiled, "I was just thinking about how Harry and Ron will react when I root for both Gryffindor _and _Slytherin on the days you play against each other."

Draco scoffed, "Why would you want to root for a losing team at all?"

Hermione smirked, "Good point; Gryffindor it is."

Ginny laughed and both Slytherins scowled at her.

Blaise decided to get refills for everyone's drink, and Ginny saw this as the prefect opportunity to give Hermione and Draco some 'alone time.' She knew the two teens were harboring lustful thoughts towards each other and she was all too willing to help them out.

"I've gotta use the loo, I'll be right back." Before Hermione could protest, Ginny was up and gone, leaving Draco and Hermione with a very awkward silence,

Hermione studied Draco as he was sitting across from her, looking anywhere but _at _her. He clearly thought this was just as awkward as she did, but of course he wasn't about to admit it; she rolled her eyes and continued to watch him.

Draco could feel her eyes on him; he tried to ignore her, but it was starting to get on his nerves. After what seemed like an hour, he sighed dramatically and looked at her, "Something on your mind Gran-Zabini?"

Hermione knew what she wanted to say, she just wasn't sure that she actually wanted to bring it up. She had been hoping that he would have been the one to extend the olive branch, but that clearly wasn't going to happen anytime soon and she just couldn't take the awkwardness anymore.

She took a deep breath and went for it, "I am Blaise's sister and you are his best friend."

Draco quirked an eyebrow at her, "You don't say; I had no idea."

Draco knew that he was being an ass, but he had spent the last hour breathing in her scent, watching her laugh and remembering her in that little blue dress, and it had taken an incredible amount of self control for him not to throw her on the table and do ungodly things to her right in front of her brother and best friend. What the hell was this girl doing to him? He didn't even like her! Yes, she was incredibly hot, but she was also the insufferable know it all from Gryffindor with a personality to match. She was making an effort to be civil to him, but he needed to keep his distance. One thing that he was good at was being snarky, sarcastic, and generally unpleasant; it was best to stick with what he knew.

Hermione narrowed her eyes at him, "Sarcasm is very unbecoming, Malfoy. Can I finish?"

Draco waved his hand for her to continue.

"As I was saying, we are two very important people in his life and I don't want him to feel like he has to choose between us because we can't get along."

Draco sneered at her, "Choose between us? Do you honestly think that he would choose you? I've been in his life since we were in diapers; can you say that same?"

The words left Draco's mouth before he could stop himself and he instantly felt like a dick; her life had been stolen from her and he was rubbing it in. He saw several emotions flash across Hermione's eyes and none of them were pleasant.

Hermione was seething, "You know, here I was stupid enough to think that you had actually changed and were no longer the immature, prejudiced, self absorbed, ignorant, cruel little ferret that you were three years ago; clearly I was wrong! You just stay away from me Malfoy; I'll make a damn schedule for Blaise's time if I have to!"

Hermione abruptly stood up and stormed out the door.

"Way to go, Draco; you are a fucking moron." He spat to himself.

Across the room, Ginny saw Hermione storm out and she sighed to herself, "Too soon, Ginny."

Blaise had also seen Hermione leave and he stormed over to Draco.

"What the hell, Draco?" He barked.

"What did you say to her, Malfoy?" Ginny came to stand next to Blaise with her hands on her hips.

"I don't want to say, but believe me, I feel like an ass."

"You look like one too!" Ginny made to go after Hermione, but Draco stopped her.

"No, I fucked up; let me fix it."

"I think you've done enough, Malfoy!

"Just let me try."

Before Ginny could protest, Malfoy was making his way out the door. He looked around and saw Hermione standing against the wall a few feet away, crying. Draco swore to himself and made his way towards her. Hermione looked up and saw him walking her way and she turned around and started walking the other way.

"Hermione, stop."

The fact that Malfoy had used her first name was enough to make her stop. She quickly wiped her tears away and turned to face him, "What do you want, Malfoy?"

"I'm sorry."

Hermione's look of contempt vanished and confusion replaced it, "What?"

Draco chuckled at her expression, "I said, I'm sorry. Out of all the nasty things I've said to you in the past, that was the worst, and I'm sorry. "

"Oh." Was all Hermione could get out.

"You were right the first time, I'm not the same person I used to be. I just don't really know how I'm supposed to act around you now, so my instincts of being a dick to you kicked in and it just came out. I swear I didn't mean it; I can't imagine what you are going through and I feel like an ass. So, I'm sorry."

"Oh."

Draco smiled, "Is that all you are going to say?"

Hermione cocked her head to the side, like she was trying to figure him out, "Apology accepted." She said at last.

"Thank you. So, you can finish what you were trying to say earlier and I swear I'll keep my mouth shut."

"Well, I was just going to say that as long as you are in Blaise's life, you will be in my life too and I think it would be easiest if we just...well, put the past behind us. Despite your recent outburst, I really do think you've changed. I think we should call a truce, you know, for Blaise's sake."

Draco smirked at her, "So, you want to be my friend?"

Hermione blushed, "Well, I would'nt go that far; more like...not enemies."

"I can live with that."

"Ok, good."

"Can we please go back inside now? Blaise and Weasley will carve me liver if I return without you."

Hermione smiled, "It would serve you right."

Draco gave her a genuine smile and she noticed how it just lit up his face. It was a shame that he had hidden behind his sneers and smirks all those years; he really was beautiful."

"Alright there?"

Draco's voice startled her out of her daze and she blushed; that seemed to be her permanent color when he was around.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Let's go back inside."

Draco held the door open for Hermione and he saw Ginny and Blaise's features soften when they saw that she was smiling. They sat down and Draco scowled at Blaise and Ginny, "See, I told you I would fix it."

Ginny glared at Draco and gave Hermione a concerned look, "Are you alright?"

Blaise joined in on the Draco bashing, "Yeah, I'll kill him for you if you want."

Hermione laughed, "I'm fine, really. This is all still pretty awkward and it'll just take a while to get used to things. He apologized and we called a truce; all is well."

She smiled at Draco and he could actually feel his resolve slipping away.

* * *

The man was scanning over The Daily Prophet when a headline caught his eye. He read the article at least four times in disbelief. She had been found? The man got an evil glint in his eye as he read the article again and he called his friend into the room.

"What is it?"

The man threw the paper in front of his friend, "She's come out of hiding."

Man #2 read the article and his eyes got huge, "I'll be damned."

Man #1 grinned, "After ten years, I've finally found her."

"What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to take what's rightfully mine, of course. They thought the threat was gone and they let their guard down. Now's the perfect time to make my move."

"Are you sure that's a good idea? Circumstances have changed, mate."

"Does that mean you aren't going to help me?"

"I told you I'd do whatever I could to help you and I meant it. I just hope that you are prepared for the wrath of Hell that will rain down on you when they discover that you've kidnapped their princess."

"I've been preparing for this moment for ten years. By the time they even realize she's gone, we will be long gone and they'll never see her again."

Man #2 smiled, "Sounds good to me. So, what's the plan?"

* * *

_**Hmm...a little mystery to figure out! **_

_**The next chapter takes them back to school!**_

_**I wanted to post a link to the dresses that I found for the girls, but links won't work on here. :(**_

_**Thanks for all the love everyone!**_


	6. Fighting

As Blaise as predicted, Rachel had 'cried buckets' when he and Hermione had given her her birthday gift. She said that it was the best gift she had ever received and then smiled apologetically at Felix, who just smiled back at her. After they had gotten back from Diagon Alley, Blaise and Hermione had decided to make a cake for Rachel and then they surprised both her and Felix with breakfast on Saturday morning. After breakfast, they all spent the entire day together, just talking. Hermione got to hear everything there was to know about her biological family and she told them about her life growing up. Since Hermione had planned on moving out of her parent's house shortly after graduation anyway, Hermione asked if it would be alright if she spent part of the summer with the Zabinis. Of course they had all agreed that it would be a great idea and Rachel had immediately starting talking about all the things that they could do and everything that she wanted to show Hermione, and Felix promised to take her to the ministry sometime to show her around his department. They also insisted on spending a few weeks at their home in Tuscany; Hermione couldn't believe that now had a house in Italy. Rachel could tell that Hermione was somewhat apprehensive about her new life, and Rachel insisted that if there was ever anything she needed or wanted, all she had to do was ask.

After everyone had gone to bed that night, Hermione laid in bed thinking about the school year to come. She knew that she would be bombarded with curious looks and questions from her friends and probably everyone. She had decided to take Blaise's advice to just tell people to read The Daily Prophet so she wouldn't have to repeat the same story countless times, unless of course it was one of her friends who asked. It rather bothered her to know that Blaise's friends had been more accepting of all of this than her friends had, with the exception of Ginny. Although, Blaise's friends were hormonal seventeen year old boys, and as far as they were concerned, they were gaining more eye candy. Hermione rolled her eyes at the thought, but she secretly liked the attention. She knew that she wasn't unattractive by any means before she became a Zabini, but she full on stood out now and it felt nice to really be noticed for once. She loved her life as Hermione Granger, but she was very excited to start living her life as Hermione Zabini and she couldn't wait for all the new experiences that she would have.

* * *

The next morning, Hermione did her morning routine, dressed in her school uniform and then lugged her trunk down the stairs. Everyone had breakfast together and then Blaise hugged his mom and shook his dad's hand and told Hermione that he would meet her at the car so she could have a moment alone with Rachel and Felix.

Rachel hugged Hermione fiercely, "I expect you to write to us and let us know how your are being treated! If there are any problems at all, you tell your headmaster or write to us and the situation will be resolved immediately. You are a Zabini now and we don't take nonsense from anyone!"

Hermione smiled, "I promise that I will tell someone if I have any problems and I'll write to you every week, and I'll see you at Christmas!"

Rachel passed Hermione off to Felix and he hugged her as well. He told her to have fun and then he excused himself to tend to an issue at work. Rachel hugged Hermione one more time, and then she met Blaise outside as the chauffer loaded everything into the car and then drove them to the train station. _(I'm going to assume that they have to have muggle tendencies at times so that they blend in smoothly, hence the muggle car and chauffer.) _When they went through Platform 9 3/4, Hermione chocked up a bit about the fact that this was going to be her last first day of school and she wiped away a few tears; Blaise just rolled his eyes and grabbed her trunk. Hermione looked to her left and saw the Grangers coming through the barrier with an animal carrier. Hermione grinned and ran over to them, giving them hugs. They exchanged pleasantries with Blaise and then turned to their daughter.

"We missed you darling! Did you have a good time?" Her mom asked.

"I did! We spent most of our time talking and getting to know each other."

"That's great, sweetheart; I'm glad it's all working out for you!" Her dad hugged her tighter.

"Well, we just wanted to see you off and give you Crookshanks." Her mom handed the carrier off to Hermione.

"Thanks, mum. I'll write to you every week and I'll see you for Christmas!"

They all hugged again, the Grangers said goodbye to Blaise, and then they hurried back through the barrier.

Hermione turned board the train when she heard a familiar voice.

"Hermione!"

The sound of Hermione's name caught the attention of quite a few people and they all turned in her direction and started whispering to each other. Hermione couldn't help but blush and Blaise gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. Hermione saw Ginny come barreling towards them.

"Hi Gin, but did you really have to draw everyone's attention?"

Ginny looked around and saw everyone looking at them and she smiled sheepishly, "I'm sorry Hermione; I wasn't even thinking."

Hermione smiled, "It's ok, Gin; are Ron and Harry here?"

"They are boarding the train. I just wanted to ask if you will be coming to sit with us?"

"I will if there's time, but McGonagall wants Blaise and I to meet her as soon as the train leaves and then there's the prefect meeting. I might be busy until we get to school, but I'll come see you if I can."

Ginny smiled and hugger Hermione, "Ok, well I'll see you soon either way!"

She sashayed off and Hermione saw Blaise checking out Ginny's backside. She smirked and elbowed him, "Subtility Blaise; look it up."

Blaise smirked back at her and continued hauling their trunks to the train. As Hermione was stepping onto the train, she looked over and caught Ron's eye. She looked at him for a moment, not sure what to do and then she saw Ron give her a sheepish little smile. All the worries she had been carrying over Ron's reaction to her parentage suddenly vanished and she gave him a brilliant smile and winked at him. He grinned back at her and then disappeared through the doors. Hermione stepped inside and saw Blaise levitating their trunks into an open top compartment and then she noticed all the looks she was getting. Some boys were leering at her, some girls were glaring at her, other people were giving her curious looks and everyone seemed to be whispering. Hermione held her head high and brushed passed all the looks and whispers until she and Blaise reached the prefect's compartment. They walked in and saw Professor McGonagall sitting at the head of the table.

She stood up to greet them, "Welcome back Mr. and Ms. Zabini." McGonagall smiled warmly at Hermione, "How are you holding up, my dear? It must be quite a transition for you."

Hermione smiled, "I'm doing alright, ma'am. It's going to take a while to get used to all the looks and stares, but I'll manage."

McGonagall pursed her lips, "Yes, well, Dumbledore and I will see to it that the looks and whispers stop very soon, I assure you."

"Thank you, ma'am."

McGonagall turned to Blaise, "And how are you doing, Mr. Zabini?"

Blaise smiled, "I'm doing just fine, ma'am."

"That's good; you two are adjusting well to being in each other's lives?"

Blaise wrapped his arm around Hermione's shoulder and pulled her into a sideways hug, "We are adjusting quite well, thank you."

Hermione nodded, "Yes, it's like he's always been in my life."

McGonagall gave them a genuine smile, "Well, that's wonderful."

She motioned for them to take a seat and she began their meeting. She discussed things that she wanted them to relay to the prefects during their meeting, then she told them about their duties and privileges specifically. Being Head students, their curfews were set back to 11 pm on weeknights and 1 am on weekends. They also had the privilege of going to Hogsmeade every weekend if they chose to and they were each allowed to bring one guest as long as that guest had permission from their parents. Neither one of them was required to participate in the weekly patrols, they just needed to be available to cover for someone if they were unable to patrol for whatever reason. There were 24 prefects from grades 5 and up; one boy and one girl. McGonagall was going to leave it up to Hermione and Blaise to make the patrolling schedule. She handed her notes over to Hermione and then told them she'd see them again soon. With one last smile, she disappeared with a pop. Hermione and Blaise went over the notes, and waited for the prefects to arrive. Seeing how excited Hermione was to get started with her duties, Blaise told her that she could lead the meeting; she graciously accepted. A few minutes before students were supposed to arrive, the compartment door opened and Ginny popped her head in.

Hermione smiled, "Hi!"

Ginny came in and sat next to Hermione, "I thought I would come a little early so I can hex anyone that gives you a hard time; you are literally the only topic of conversation on this train."

Hermione frowned, "They probably won't even be paying attention during the meeting; Blaise, maybe you should handle it."

"Everything will be fine, Hermione. Besides, like Red said, if anyone gives you any problems, we'll hex them." Blaise looked a Ginny and grinned.

Ginny blushed and then looked at Hermione, "You've been dreaming of this moment since your first year, Hermione. Don't let any nosy, gossipy little twits take that away from you."

Just then, the compartment door opened and student's started filing in. Ginny gave Hermione's hand a reassuring squeeze and then snatched Hermione's notes to take a look. As everyone came in, their eyes were glued to Hermione as they finally had a chance to see her close up. They would look from her to Blaise and back again and Blaise was already getting irritated with it. Draco sauntered in with Pansy Parkinson following close behind and he sat in the seat next to Blaise. They did their guy handshake thing and Draco gave Hermione an almost imperceptible nod. She did notice it though, and she gave him a small smile. Ginny noticed Pansy glaring daggers at Hermione and she was itching to grab her wand and hex all of Pansy's hair off. Hermione noticed a few familiar faces; Neville Longbottom, Parvati Patil, Susan Bones, Ernie Macmillan, Terry Boot, Padma Patil, Luna Lovegood, and Draco and Pansy of course. Hermione waited until everyone was seated to begin.

"Hi everyone; welcome back to another year of Hogwarts." She was so nervous, she thought she might hyperventilate. She could feel a panic attack coming on, but it was quickly extinguished when she felt both of her hands being squeezed; one by Ginny and one by Blaise. Reminding herself that she was far from alone in this, she cleared her throat and smiled.

"If you haven't already guessed, I am the Head Girl and this is the Head Boy, Blaise Zabini."

"What's your name?" Came a snotty voice.

Hermione gave Pansy a wary look, "You know my name, Parkinson."

Pansy smirked, "Well, I know your name, but some of the other's might not."

Hermione rolled her eyes, "Is there anyone here who doesn't know who I am?"

The fifth year girl prefect smirked, "I don't know your name."

Blaise opened his mouth to berate his fellow housemate, but Hermione raised her hand to stop him, ""My name is Hermione."

The fifth year Slytherin exchanged a smirk with Pansy, "And your last name?"

Hermione stomped her foot like a small child, "Oh for Merlin's sake; my name is Hermione Olivia Zabini, I was born on October 14 along with my twin brother Blaise, my parents are Rachel and Felix Zabini as well as Liz and Lewis Granger, I have black hair and blue eyes and I am positively itching to start handing out detentions and taking away house points," she looked pointedly at Pansy and her fellow Slytherin, "so, I suggest that unless you both want to be the first recipients of each of these, you drop the subject that is Hermione Zabini as it is _none _of your business. Am I understood?"

The fifth year nodded, but Pansy continued to glare at Hermione, "You aren't nearly as special as you think you are _Zabini,_" Pansy spat the last word as though it was poisonous, "as far as I'm concerned, you will always be nothing more than a disgusting, filthy mudblood!"

Ginny reached for her wand, as did Blaise, while everyone else was stunned by the sudden hostility in the room. Draco, however, was just watching the two females with an amused expression. Hermione put her hand's out to stop Ginny and Blaise from hexing Pansy, "I've got this; Jealousy really doesn't suit you, Parkinson."

Pansy snorted, "I am not jealous of you, you little-"

Hermione cut her off, "Oh, but you are jealous of me because now I am superior to you in every...possible...way. I am smarter, better looking, and more wealthy than you could ever hope to be and it all just fell into my lap without me having to lift a finger. The entire school knows that your father lost your families fortune to slags, booze and gambling. It was really quite...muggle of him. You've spent the last four years on your hands and knees just hoping that some rich, good looking wizard would take pity on you. It's rather ironic, don't you think? All that time spent on your knees...your blood is closer to the dirt than mine ever was."

The room was deathly silent as everyone waited to see what would happen next. Ginny was grinning from ear to ear, Blaise was looking proudly at his little sister, him being a whole 5 minutes older than her, and Draco had a smirk on his face to rival all his others. Pansy's face had gotten redder with every word that Hermione said and now it was clear that she was on the verge of tears.

Hermione was beyond livid and she had to take several breaths to calm herself down, then she looked around the room at everyone, "I don't care if I'm a pureblood, half-blood, muggle born, or squib; I will not tolerate _anyone _using the word Mudblood, Blood Traitor or any other equally foul word in regards to another student." She turned her eyes to Pansy, "Detention for one month, Parkinson and from now on, the subject of me and my family is off limits."

Pansy continued to glare daggers at the Head Girl, but she kept her mouth shut.

Hermione returned the glare, then turned to address the rest of the students, "Now, there are a few things to go over before we get to school. First of all, there were some complaints last year that our robes are too hot, so Professor Dumbledore agreed to let us only wear them during important events and when we are having class outside during colder weather. One main reason why we were required to wear the robes is because there are some students," Hermione looked pointedly at Pansy, "who feel the need to reveal too much skin while in their uniforms. Dumbledore said that we are going to be given _one _chance to prove that this new uniform change will not be a problem."

Hermione slipped off her robe and held her arms down to her sides, "As you can see, the length of my skirt ends at the tips of my middle fingers; the skirts cannot be any shorter than this. If this rule is broken even once, we will have to start wearing our robes at all times during school hours."

Hermione looked at Pansy, "Stand up, Parkinson."

Pansy's glared intensified, "Why?"

"Just stand up! I'm not going to hex you if that's what your worried about."

Pansy hesitantly stood up.

"Take off your robe." Hermione ordered.

"Why!?" Pansy whined,

Hermione just looked at her. Pansy huffed and pulled off her robe and set it on her chair. The buttons on Pansy's shirt were threatening to pop off because the shirt was so tight and her skirt was about three inches too short. Hermione pointed her wand at Pansy, said a spell and they all saw as her skirt got longer and her shirt was no longer two sizes too small.

"If you screw this up for everyone Parkinson, I"ll be sure that they all know who to thank." Hermione was very satisfied with the look of pure hatred that Pansy was giving her.

"Now, McGonagall has given us the oppertunity to have a dance this year; she said we can decided between Halloween or Christmas."

Blaise and Draco exchanged a look and they responded together, "Christmas."

Hermione looked between the two, "Um, alright; is Christmas alright with everyone?"

Everyone nodded and the two Slytherins smiled.

"Ok, Christmas ball it is; we will start working on the plans in November. Two final things; we will have prefect meetings every Wednesday at 7pm in the prefect's lounge. _(I just made that up.) _For those who don't know where it is, it's on the 5th floor next to the Transfiguration room and the password is 'unity.' The last thing we need to go over is patrolling. Blaise and I will have the schedule made for our next meeting and we will take over the patrolling for the first week For the 5th years who are new at this, as a prefect you have the option of taking away house points and assigning detentions, but only if it is absolutely necessary. If you abuse your privleges, your title will be revoked. If anyone comes to you with a concern, do your best to solve the issues yourself. If you can't, come to Blaise or myself and we will remedy the situation. Ok, I think that's it; are there any questions?"

Everyone shook their heads and Hermione smiled, "Ok, then you're all free to go."

Pansy was the first one up and she stormed out the door, not looking at anyone. Everyone else scraped their chairs back and quickly exited the compartment. Draco and Ginny were the only two that remained behind.

Hermione was grinning from ear to ear, "That was bloody brilliant, Hermione!"

Hermione raised a newly waxed eyebrow, "It was just a meeting, Gin."

Ginny rolled her eyes, "I'm talking about putting Parkinslag in her place; it was brilliant!"

"Oh, that; not one of my finest moments."

Ginny scoffed, "Leave it to you to feel bad about putting that horrible slag in her place! She deserved everything she got!" Ginny looked at Blaise and Draco, "Sorry boys; I know she's your friend, but she had it coming."

Blaise snorted, "She is not my friend; in fact, I can't stand the slag."

Draco grinned, "She's had a bit of a thing for him since we broke up in 4th year. She went after him first, but he rejected her. Theo had a go at her for a while, but he got bored rather quickly."

Hermione and Ginny wrinkled their noses in disgust, "Slag or not, I shouldn't have put all of Pansy's personal issues out there for everyone to know." Hermione frowned.

Ginny put a hand on Hermione's shoulder, "She was trying to do the same thing to you, Hermione; don't feel bad!"

Hermione decided to change the subject and she looked at her brother and his friend, "Why were you two so keen on having the dance at Christmas? You hardly seem like you would care either way."

Blaise smirked, 'We have other...plans for October."

"Really; such as?"

Draco tried to kick Blaise in the shin to stop him from spilling their secret, but it was no use; he just had to open his trap.

"Slytherin has a big party every October; it's supposed to be for my birthday, but it's really just an excuse to have a big party."

Ginny grinned, "I knew it! I've heard about your parties."

Draco narrowed his eyes, "That's impossible; people that are invited are forbidden from telling anyone else. That's how it stays a secret."

"Well, I heard someone being invited last year." Ginny turned to Blaise, "Can Hermione go to your party? I mean, her birthday is the same day after all."

"Sure, if you want to." Blaise smiled at Hermione.

Hermione wasn't sure if she wanted to go to a Slytherin party by herself, "Well, can I invite some friends? Just a few."

Draco rolled his eyes, "Just what we need, a bunch of damn Gryffindors to ruin our party."

Ginny shot a glare at Draco.

Blaise ignored him, "Sure, you can bring some friends."

Draco growled at Hermione, "Boy, you sure know how to come in and fuck everything up, don't you. You think that just because you know hold the Zabini name you can go from being a boring, unattractive, insufferable, know-it-all to this perfect little princess? You can't just have everything handed to you, you know."

They all saw the look of hurt that crossed Hermione's features and her eyes as they started to glisten, "You're right; I'm sorry. I'll stay away from your party and I won't tell anyone about it."

Ginny tried to stop Hermione, but she was out the door in a flash. Ginny turned on Draco and glowered at him, "What the hell is your problem, Malfoy!? You are a bloody pathetic idiot! She didn't ask for any of this and she certainly didn't expect to get anything handed to her and you bloody well know that! Blaming her for your little crush and making her out to be this horrible person just to justify why you need to hate her is just sad and pathetic! You would be so lucky to have someone as wonderful as Hermione in your life, but at the rate you're going, that will _never _happen! You have managed to send my best friend crying and running from a room in less than 72 hours and Merlin help me, if it happens again, no power on this Earth will save you from me from hexing you to hell and back!"

Ginny turned on her heel and stormed out of the room. While Ginny was going off on her tirade, she was poking Draco in the chest with her finger and he was certain that there would be a bruise tomorrow. Draco was afraid to look at Blaise; he turned his head towards him at winced at the look on his face.

"The red head pretty much has you pegged, doesn't she?" Blaise's voice was deadly calm, "you are like a brother to me, but Hermione _is _my sister. Don't make me choose between the two of you; you won't like my choice. You need to grow up Draco and stop acting like a child; do not blame these feelings that you have towards my sister on her. You have the potential to be a great man, Draco; a man that could actually be worthy of Hermione's time and affection. You need to just grow the fuck up, get over yourself and act like a man!"

With that, Blaise swept from the room, refusing to listen as Draco tried to stop him.

* * *

**Draco has to screw up a few more times before he will finally get his head out of his bum! :)**


End file.
